


Cakeless

by RedTeamShark



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: Author Chose Not To Tag
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-29
Updated: 2014-04-29
Packaged: 2019-09-12 04:24:34
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,176
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16866076
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RedTeamShark/pseuds/RedTeamShark
Summary: It’s Ray’s birthday and all he wants is to spend time with his boyfriends. Too bad there’s no one around.





	Cakeless

**Author's Note:**

> Proper warnings, tags, etc, may come in the future. For the time being I'm frantically transferring my content to a stable platform amidst growing concerns about tumblr's inevitable implosion.
> 
> Apologies for flooding the fandom page.

He woke up alone.

Just six months ago, this wouldn’t have been an unusual thing. In fact, he would have been distinctly more concerned to wake up next to someone six months ago, living alone in a one bedroom apartment.

Now waking up alone made something in his chest ache. There were no arms around him, no light snores, no shifting feet kicking him as the others awoke.

Sharing a bed with five other people was supposed to mean never waking up alone.

Ray swung his feet over the edge of the bed, shivering slightly as they hit the floor. He pulled his glasses on, sighing to realize that he wouldn’t have to figure out which ones were his from a pile on the bedside table.

There weren’t the usual sounds of his boyfriends getting ready for the day. No good smells of Geoff cooking breakfast. No muffled conversations happening in the other room. Everything around him felt cold and alone, empty, and Ray rubbed one of his eyes tiredly. He didn’t have to wait for someone else to vacate before entering the bathroom. The coffee pot wasn’t bubbling away, wasn’t even set up.

For a panicked moment as he made his coffee, Ray wondered if they had all just left him. Grown tired of him and decided to move on as a group of five.

It didn’t make any sense, of course, but being so alone in the house, hearing nothing but the silence around him, made his head spin. Six months ago he’d been used to it, couldn’t imagine life any other way. Now the peace and quiet made his heart race.

To add insult to injury, he noted, flipping the page of the Word of the Day calendar on the counter, it was his birthday. The word of the day was ‘forebode.’ Ray flipped the calendar face down on the counter with a grunt of displeasure. He left the kitchen with his coffee, resolutely ignoring how his stomach grumbled. If Geoff wasn’t there to cook him breakfast, he wasn’t going to fucking eat.

He had to acknowledge, even as he flopped down onto the couch with plans to stare at the TV and pout until his boyfriends came back to him, that he was being childish. More awake now, less worried, he knew exactly what was going on. Geoff and Jack were in LA for business, Michael had gone back to New Jersey for a few days, and Gavin was back in England to see Dan and do some filming. Ryan was the only mystery disappearance, but even that was an easily-solved mystery. The older man was probably out doing the Saturday morning grocery shopping.

None of this information made him feel less abandoned, though. None of it filled the empty spaces on the couch where Gavin would lie with him, arms wrapped around Ray like a little kid with a teddy bear. The information didn’t make Jack magically appear in the recliner, his lap ready for someone to sit down on, his hand ready to absently card through that person’s hair.

Ray frowned at the television that he still hadn’t turned on, about to get up again and make himself some breakfast. His boyfriends were out of town and felt bad enough about not being able to be there for his birthday. Being a little bitch-baby about it wouldn’t make them come back and if they found out they’d only feel guiltier.

He was just dragging pots and pans out to make breakfast—somehow they seemed necessary, even if he was only going to toast a bagel and smear some butter on it—when the front door opened, Ryan letting himself in with a shouted greeting and the rustling of grocery bags. Ray fought the urge to run to him, padding barefoot down the hall to the front entry and taking bags from the older man, leaning up to kiss his cheek. “Hey.” He murmured, heading back into the kitchen as Ryan turned to get the rest of the groceries from the car.

Ryan brought in the rest of the groceries, pausing to wrap his arms around Ray’s middle while the younger man buttered his bagel. “Happy Birthday.” He whispered, kissing the back of his neck lightly. The Puerto Rican squirmed instinctively, turning in the arms around him and planting another short kiss on Ryan’s lips.

“Thanks.” He smiled, wiggling just a bit closer to the older man, sighing in content. He never would have believed before that waking up alone would leave him feeling so empty, but now all he wanted to do was fill that emptiness with as many of the people he loved as he could. When Ryan finally let go to make his own breakfast and put the groceries away, Ray took a seat at the table, keeping an eye on him. It was dumb and he knew it was dumb, but he felt like if he took his eyes off Ryan, the other man would disappear on him. Besides, he was allowed to look at his boyfriend.

“You sleep good?” Ryan asked, leaning up and pulling a box of cereal from one of the cupboards.

“Yeah. It was really fuckin’ weird to wake up alone, though.” Ray swallowed, hoping that his tone of voice didn’t give away the panic he’d run through before Ryan got home from the store.

“Sorry I didn’t wait for you. I had to take Michael to the airport and figured I’d do the shopping afterwards.” Ryan joined him at the table, setting a hand over his and squeezing lightly. “Anything particular you want to do today?”

He shrugged, leaning into the brunette slightly, closing his eyes. “I’m good with just chilling around the house. We can do the whole birthday thing once everyone is back.”

A hum of agreement from the man next to him was the only acknowledgement. After cleaning up from breakfast, Ray made his way into the living room, flipping on the TV and booting up his Xbox. Ryan settled in next to him, laptop on his lap and one hand gently stroking the back of his neck. The younger man gamed, mowing down zombies left and right as he worked towards an achievement, a content sigh leaving him as his boyfriend’s hand drifted up to scratch his scalp. “Whatcha doin’?”

“Have to edit some code that’s broken on the website. Boring stuff.”

“You can do that one handed?” Ray was mildly impressed; most of the time when Ryan was coding, he was completely lost in that world, both hands flying across the keyboard like a pianist at his bench.

“Yeah. It just takes forever that way.” His hand didn’t stray from Ray’s skin, however, drifting down to rub his shoulder. “I don’t mind. How close are you to your achievement?”

“Two hundred fifty thousand outta the three hundred thousand. It’ll be another hour or so.” His attention darted back to the screen as something exploded, a sigh leaving him. “Longer if I keep fuckin’ dying.”

“Hmm…” Ray barely noticed when Ryan’s hand left him, glancing up and seeing the other man gone, his laptop closed on the coffee table. He shrugged, figuring that Ryan had just run to the bathroom, attention back on the television screen. He was getting close, at least. All of his focus was on the screen before him, background things completely out of his attention.

It was a surprise when his stomach rumbled and Ray paused the game, looking up and sniffing the air. Something smelled good… not just good, something smelled  _delicious_. There was something delicious being baked somewhere—likely in his own kitchen, given that Ryan still wasn’t back to sitting next to him.

Saving his progress and quitting back to the dashboard, the Puerto Rican wandered into the kitchen, fighting down a laugh at the sight that greeted him: Ryan in one of Geoff’s aprons, wearing oven mitts and pulling some sort of dessert from the oven. The older man set the steaming item on the counter, turning and tossing one of his mitts in Ray’s general direction. “You laugh and you don’t get any, birthday boy.”

“What is it?” He asked, schooling his face into a look as close to seriousness as he could get.

“Pecan pie. Family recipe. I know you don’t like cake, but I figured this would be a good substitute.” Ryan took the oven mitt back when Ray approached him, kissing his forehead lightly. “But, that’s for later. For now… anything specific you want for dinner tonight?”

He hadn’t exactly thought it through, hadn’t really had anything in mind for dinner. Ray shrugged, leaning into Ryan’s chest and closing his eyes. “Let’s stay in.” He decided, arching his back into the hands that ran down his spine. “Maybe… something on the grill?” Geoff was really the master chef among them and Michael was the expert at desserts, but goddammit, Ryan was doing this for him and Ray was going to appreciate it if it killed him.

Dinner, of course, was not a deadly experience. Ray and Ryan sat out on the back porch, shielded from the glare of the setting sun by the bulk of the garage, chatting lightly as they ate. It was so eerily quiet without everyone else around, only one conversation happening over dinner, only two voices. But Ryan’s hand was on his knee, stroking up to the edge of his shorts lightly, and Ray liked that well enough. He scooted his chair slightly closer, smiling and planting a kiss on the older man’s cheek.

“Thanks, Ryan.” Ray muttered, standing and starting to clear the dishes. “You’re good to me.”

“Because I love you, Ray.” Ryan smiled, handing over his plate and getting to his feet, following the younger man inside. They washed up the dishes from dinner, an easy task with only two of them present. While Ray headed for the living room again, Ryan carefully cut and plated two slices of the pie, sticking a candle in one of them and lighting it.

He brought the candlelit pie out to the younger man, humming ‘Happy Birthday’ as he set it down. “Blow out the candle and make a wish.” He whispered, watching as Ray closed his eyes and did as he was told.

They ate in relative silence, the television on low before them, Food Network on the screen (it was the only channel all six of them could agree on watching, and even though Ray and Ryan could have found something else they both liked, it was just easier to leave the television as it was). Ryan’s arms slid around Ray when they were done with the pie, pulling the younger man into his lap and kissing him slowly.

Ray hummed in content, an almost cat-like sound leaving him as he tucked himself closer to the other man’s chest. “Love you, Ryan. Thanks for a great birthday.”

“Happy to make you happy, Ray.”

–

Curled up tight to Ryan in bed that night, Ray drifted off to sleep. It wasn’t as comfortable as usual, a lot of empty space left in the big bed with only two of them, but Ryan’s heart was beating steadily against his back, Ryan’s arms were around his waist, and at least it was better than how he’d woken up.

His eyes cracked open to early morning sunlight streaming in through the curtains, a small frown on Ray’s lips. Something was different from how he’d fallen asleep, something was very—

His nose twitched and he squirmed, squinting to try and figure out what was tickling his upper lip. A small exhale of laughter left him, realizing that it was hair—the curly auburn hair at the back of Michael’s head, the older man apparently having come back in the night, squirmed his way into Ray’s arms, and fallen asleep.

For that matter, there was weight on him, light snoring in his ear. It took a moment, but Ray realized that it had to be Gavin, the only one that was light enough to sleep on top of him without crushing him. Below his head was no longer a pillow, either, the soft cotton replaced with something a bit firmer, but much more comfortable—Jack’s chest, the bearded man’s heart beating steadily in his ear.

Ray wiggled slightly, squinting gaze casting around the bed, looking for the sixth person of their family. He frowned, wondering if Geoff hadn’t made it back, before the bedroom door opened, the tattooed man sleepily stumbling back into the bed. Ray smiled, reaching one hand up and linking his fingers briefly with Geoff’s as the oldest man of the group settled into bed facing Michael, arms stretching out to wrap around the other five.

“Happy birthday, Ray.” Geoff whispered, leaning forward just slightly, kissing his forehead. “Hope it was a good one.”

Ray nodded, already almost asleep again, curling himself closer to all of the others. He felt Ryan’s arms reflexively tighten around him and smiled, closing his eyes.

“It was perfect.”


End file.
